Western White HousePresident George W. Bush gives remarks on Hurricane Katrina and the Iraqi constitution from his Crawford, Texas ranch on Sunday August 28, 2005. The logo in the background was created by the Bush Administration in August 2001, and it was displayed at press briefings during Bush's stays at his ranch in Crawford. The sign reads:THE WESTERN WHITE HOUSECRAWFORD, TEXAS

The Western White House is a term applied to additional residences of the President of the United States. It was used for the Crawford, Texas ranch of George W. Bush, known as Prairie Chapel Ranch, and the term has also been used by other chief executives for their homes, including Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon and Ronald Reagan.

George W. BushTexasPresident George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas. The house was designed by professor David Heymann.

The most recent official Western White House was Prairie Chapel Ranch, the Crawford, Texas, home of George W. Bush. The Bush administration created a logo for the Western White House in August 2001. A sign with the logo had been hung in the press briefing area in Crawford at the start of each of Bush's August vacations; the blue oval sign bore the Seal of the President of the United States and read, "The Western White House / Crawford, Texas".[12][13] The daily press operations in Crawford were set up in the gymnasium of Crawford Middle School, several miles from the Bush ranch in unincorporated McLennan County near Coryell. The iconic ramshackle barn seen behind correspondents as they did their live reports is actually the school's maintenance shed, and had no connection to the Western White House.

Speculation that the Obama home in the Kenwood neighborhood in Chicago would be used as the Western White House during Barack Obama's presidency [1] proved false,[citation needed] when on August 23, 2009, he arrived in Martha's Vineyard to spend the week near Chapaquiddick.Hawaii

Additional speculation that Plantation Estate in the Kailua neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii will become the Western White House has emerged as President Obama vacationed there as President-Elect in 2008 and as President in December 2009, 2010, and 2011.

<quoted text>That WOULD be terrible!If that's what he was doing.But it's not.You really need to calm down a little and at least TRY to be rational about the President. He's a pragmatic moderate who is governing from a center left position. Advocating for increased revenue and stimulus spending during an economic downturn is a proven and solidly mainstream proposal.Hell, ALL his policy proposals are solidly mainstream and have the public's support. He's just doing what we elected him to do.Your hysterical over-reaction to normal Presidential tasks is so far over-the-top as to be completely detached from reality. Seriously - try to get a grip.

Moderates don't promote class, racial, and gender warfare.

When is he actually going to start working? He's STILL campaigning...even releasing a "video" about the fiscal cliff. A real president wouldn't be doing this.

<quoted text>When is he actually going to start working? He's STILL campaigning...even releasing a "video" about the fiscal cliff. A real president wouldn't be doing this.

Ummm, he IS working. That's what that is.

The President has made an opening proposal in the negotiations and he is now rallying the people to pressure Congress to engage in the debate. All the GOP is doing is mocking the President's proposal and not offering one of their own.

One of the powers of the President is the bully pulpit - rallying the nation to engage in the issues of the day. Since the President doesn't have a negotiating partner, he's asking the voters to pressure their representatives to do their jobs.

Labeling this kind of work - the kind of work ALL Presidents have done - as "campaigning" makes you look pretty uninformed and juvenile. Do you honestly think he's still running for office? Do you think he doesn't' know he won? LOL!

<quoted text>Moderates don't promote class, racial, and gender warfare.When is he actually going to start working? He's STILL campaigning...even releasing a "video" about the fiscal cliff. A real president wouldn't be doing this.

Obama and the Progressive Fringe Won.

Democrats, Republicans, and Independents LOST. The biggest Losers are our children who will miss out on a chance at their American Dream.

<quoted text>When Bush went on "vacation" to his Texas ranch, aka the Western White House, he was still governing there. He met with numerous heads of state in Crawford as well as held press conferences.Where's Obama's Western White house? It's certainly not his Chicago home!But he has played more rounds of golf!

LOL! That's weak.

If you actually believe ANY President isn't working 365 days of the year then you're hopelessly naive.

Bush spent 1/3 of his entire Presidency on vacation - almost 3 years of it, and more than any other President in history. Sure he did official work while on vacation - just like Obama does and just like every other President has.

<quoted text>And neither does the President.<quoted text>Ummm, he IS working. That's what that is.The President has made an opening proposal in the negotiations and he is now rallying the people to pressure Congress to engage in the debate. All the GOP is doing is mocking the President's proposal and not offering one of their own.One of the powers of the President is the bully pulpit - rallying the nation to engage in the issues of the day. Since the President doesn't have a negotiating partner, he's asking the voters to pressure their representatives to do their jobs.Labeling this kind of work - the kind of work ALL Presidents have done - as "campaigning" makes you look pretty uninformed and juvenile. Do you honestly think he's still running for office? Do you think he doesn't' know he won? LOL!

What, no response to president's on vacation? Why is that? Oh, it's because I proved you wrong?

Yes, he is still in campaign mode. He's never gotten out of because that's the only thing he knows how to do.

What he needs to do, is to compromise. There's been nothing on the table regarding entitlement reform. He should be pressuring Reid to offer up something.

On that same line of thought, don't you think it's about time he pressure's Reid to pass a budget? They have yet to pass one for this president.

<quoted text>LOL! That's weak.If you actually believe ANY President isn't working 365 days of the year then you're hopelessly naive.Bush spent 1/3 of his entire Presidency on vacation - almost 3 years of it, and more than any other President in history. Sure he did official work while on vacation - just like Obama does and just like every other President has.

"The most recent official Western White House was Prairie Chapel Ranch, the Crawford, Texas, home of George W. Bush."

The most recent...meaning Obama doesn't have one. He could use Camp David, but he prefers to go on golfing trips to Martha's Vineyard or Hawaii.

<quoted text>What, no response to president's on vacation? Why is that? Oh, it's because I proved you wrong?Yes, he is still in campaign mode. He's never gotten out of because that's the only thing he knows how to do.What he needs to do, is to compromise. There's been nothing on the table regarding entitlement reform. He should be pressuring Reid to offer up something.On that same line of thought, don't you think it's about time he pressure's Reid to pass a budget? They have yet to pass one for this president.

Look again.

The President proposed both revenue increases and spending cuts. What has the GOP proposed? Anything specific? No.

The President wants increased revenues and he was re-elected to do that, so he made a proposal that included that. The GOP wants entitlement reform - where's their proposal?

Or do you expect the President to do all the work on this issue while the GOP just sits back and criticizes? Because that's all we've seen so far.

The Obama administrationís call for higher revenue through increased taxes on high incomes ó which actually goes considerably beyond just letting the Bush tax cuts for the top end expire ó gets treated with an unmistakable sneer in much political discussion, as if it were a trivial thing, more about staking out a populist position than it is about getting real on red ink.

On the other hand, the idea of raising the age of Medicare eligibility gets very respectful treatment ó now thatís serious.

So I thought Iíd look at the dollars and cents ó and even I am somewhat shocked. Those tax hikes would raise $1.6 trillion over the next decade; according to the CBO, raising the Medicare age would save $113 billion in federal funds over the next decade.

So, the non-serious proposal would reduce the deficit 14 TIMES AS MUCH as the serious proposal.

I guess we have to understand the definition of serious: a proposal is only serious if it punishes the poor and the middle class.

They're admitting that they aren't interested in actually working on the problem they can't stop shrieking about.

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Rep. Cole: Republicans Donít Need To Put Forward A Plan

Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) said Sunday Republicans do not need to put forward a counter offer to President Obama's debt deal proposal. Cole was responding to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, who made the rounds on the Sunday shows calling on Republicans to put forward their own plan debt-reduction plan.

"I don't think we need to put a formal proposal out on the table," Cole said on ABC's "This Week."

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Yep, we'll just sit back and demand the President does all the work, making proposal after proposal until he pleases us.

The GOP is a freaking JOKE.

Taxpayers need to get upset about this. They need to get active and demand that their congressmen do their damn JOBS.

Some good analysis of the rightwing reaction to Obama's deficit reduction proposal....

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But whatís unmistakable in this case is some level of genuine bewilderment.

Boehner and Co expect and are accustomed to President Obama kicking off negotiations with an opening offer that seems like something the two sides might eventually agree to after a lot of hard negotiating ó and then going a little further in the Republicansí direction.

In other words, theyíre used to an opening gambit that goes something like 70% or 75% toward the Republican position.

Only now President Obamaís proposal is basically what he just ran on in his successful reelection campaign. And itís got Boehner et al. flummoxed.

This turn of events has left Boehner in the comical position of declaring negotiations at a stalemate without yet having said what his partyís position even is.

They wonít present a counter-offer because in a real sense they donít have one.

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That's it exactly - the GOP doesn't have a counter-proposal.

They are so used to just relying on the President to be the only adult in town that they've lost all capacity to actually govern. All they can do it bitch and moan like the petulant children they are.

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